A New Line of Work
by fallenstar2013
Summary: A band of "professionals" awakens to new powers and becomes a worldwide threat to humanity... or maybe a certain genre of people. It all depends on what their leader decides: Emancipation, or Condemnation? WARNING: Events in this story are altered/retold from the original. Persona 5 and all its characters (c) Atlus
1. Chapter 1

"They never proved anything."

"Look at me in the eyes, Amamiya, and tell me that again."

The man named Amamiya scowled. He was used to interrogation rooms by now, but he wasn't expecting the change in prosecutors. He certainly didn't expect the new prosecutor to be sisters with the one he was expecting, either. He wondered what might have changed Makoto Niijima's role that he'd have to endure the strict Sae instead.

"Let me repeat the question: why were you caught and brought here shortly after the reveal that a certain hotel was also doubling as an illegal casino," said Sae slowly, as if to ensure the young man in front of her was listening, "which just so happened to get robbed?"

Amamiya sighed and looked at his wrist watch. "You know, this is really cutting time for me."

"I get paid by the hour," countered Sae.

"That explains why Makoto so often tells me she's home alone." Amamiya smirked and raised a brow, expecting the following reaction.

This was not entirely false. The younger Niijima sister had provided her house for "party time," as the group had agreed upon calling it, for the past month. However, the dark-haired young man didn't need to provide as much information to irk the silver-haired woman. Her eyes lit up and her fist clenched.

"Oh, so you're gonna play like that?" said Sae through gritted teeth. The young man knew she wouldn't do anything if she was in the room alone with him. Fortunately for the both of them, the door flew open and in ran the brown-haired woman called Makoto.

"Sis!" called Makoto in surprise. "I didn't know you were here! Oh… hi, Ren."

Ren Amamiya sighed lowly while adjusting his glasses. While the intervention was pleasant, he was hoping that Sae would be too taken aback to notice what her sister was wearing.

"Why are you here, Mako? You know you can't come in during an interro—"

"I, um, I can vouch for him, okay?" The brown-haired sister said hurriedly. "He was waiting for me when the commotion at the hotel happened, and I told him to get out of there when he was caught!"

She then pulled out her phone and showed her sister her recent conversation with the aforementioned man, which seemed to include some plans to meet up at a hotel in which they had apparently made reservations. Sae squinted at the phone, and then glared at Ren, who was wearing an innocent expression. Ren shrugged almost apologetically; he knew how to play any part, even one where he'd be put in an embarrassing situation. Sae sighed.

"Fine, just get him out of my sight," she said as her cheeks reddened in shame. She then noticed her sister's outfit. "Why the hell are you wearing that, though? You know damn well that impersonating an officer is a serious offense!"

Ren grimaced and Makoto's eyes widened. The latter started to stutter.

"Wha—is—I—ummm…"

"Wait, that's real?" intervened the bespectacled man with feigned surprise. The prosecutor turned to him, wearing an expression of disbelief. "I… I told her to get an officer uniform from the dollar store," he lied with false embarrassment. "Y-you see… Mako-chan here's… a bit of an S…"

"Jeez, Ren," squeaked Makoto while covering her face to hide her amusement, "you don't have to sell me out like that!"

"Ugh, you know what? Just get the hell out of here," groaned the prosecutor. "Of all the things I didn't need to know…"

"R-really? Thanks, sis!" said Makoto happily while Ren stood up. Before the pair left, the brown-haired woman turned to her sister and said, "By the way, I won't be home all weekend!"

"I don't need to know!" yelled Sae with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"What took you?" asked Ren as he and Makoto walked out of the police building; their expressions changed from amusement to seriousness. "I was between a sword and a wall back there."

"Sorry, sorry! Futaba was editing the records when she found out that Sis was sent to Shibuya!" Makoto explained. "The whole text bit was my idea, by the way, in case I ran into her."

"Good call," praised Ren, "but that doesn't explain why you were late."

"Ryuji fell down the last couple of stairs back in Phase Three. You know his leg hasn't been the same since the Kamoshida incident; he gets cramps every now and then."

Amamiya groaned as he and Makoto got into the car. "I told him to be the driver for this one, but no, he wanted to play bouncer yet again. Wait," Ren looked at the back of the car and started counting while pointing at the bags he knew would be there. He noticed there were fewer bags than anticipated. "You split it up?"

"Haru said it'd be safer if she took some in her limo, since it'd be less suspicious."

Ren nodded in understanding, and leaned back in his seat.

The drive to Yongen-Jaya wasn't long, given the hour. Makoto parked the car a ways from the café, and she and Ren walked the rest of the way there after ensuring the bags remained invisible. Ren took his keys and opened the locale as Makoto gave the signal through her phone. In a few seconds, Futaba Sakura entered LeBlanc.

"Success?" asked the short sunset-haired woman. "You guys were later than anticipated."

"Had a cramp," explained a masculine voice as Ryuji Sakamoto limped into the café. "Doctor said I gotta make sure to stretch well before running for the next few weeks. Sorry I slowed y'all down."

"Still went less roughly than last time," said Yusuke Kitagawa as he also entered.

"I almost punched Ann in the face when it was time to run," said Haru Okumura with a smile as she and a gorgeous blonde entered at the same time. "I didn't recognize her in her disguise!"

"That's why I gave you a keyword," said Ann Takamaki with an exasperated expression. "I'm even happier you didn't forget it!"

One by one, the members of the operation came in and greeted their leader via an appraisal of the ease of today's work or their peers' performances. Ren knew they wouldn't be satisfied until they made the news and papers, though. It was the little rush of fame and fortune that made their line of duty worth it for the Phantom Thieves.

"So how much did we actually get?" said Sojiro Sakura as he and Ren started cleaning and preparing the group's victory meals.

"About three hundred million yen," commented Hifumi Togo nonchalantly.

Yuuki Mishima intervened while tapping his pen on his notebook. "You know that's not gonna be accepted when I submit the article, Togo-san! I need the crunchy stuff; people think an amount is bigger if there are more different numbers!"

"You're learning, Mishima-kun!" cheered Ichiko Oya, who also was holding a notebook. "He's right, though; we need to know exactly how much. It's also important for share-splitting."

Haru and Ann started to chatter amongst each other for a moment, and the rest of the group looked at them. The auburn-haired girl then pulled out her phone and made a call, and the tension in the room rose for a moment while she had her men count the half that she'd taken to safety. Ren's eyes swept from one person to the next. While the job was successful and everyone had played their parts to perfection, it had taken a few hundred exhausting hours to plan and set in motion the operation that ended up earning them…

"If we divided evenly between Makoto and me during Phase Five," said Haru after hanging up, "the total comes to three hundred fifteen million; one hundred seventy-five thousand and thirteen yen (give or take a few thousands)!"

The whole group burst in cheers. Ren and Sojiro started to serve the plates to everyone while they celebrated and started discussing what they'd do with their new money. As the two men sat down at their table, Sojiro patted Ren in the back.

"Gotta hand it to you," said the senior, "you really know how to make these people do wonders."

"I'm more surprised I could pull time to work on this and still pass my classes for this semester," answered the messy-haired man not-so humbly.

Yes, balancing college and huge operations (he hated to use the term "heists" for his work) wasn't exactly a cakewalk. However, Ren found it fun to lead a double life like this, and it was well worth it when he celebrated with his teammates like this. A blue butterfly landed on his head, and Futaba and Haru were squealing at the adorableness of the picture of Ren Amamiya with a butterfly on his head while Ryuji urged Yusuke to try to paint a scene like this one. Ichiko and Yuuki compared notes on how they'd write their respective articles before deciding they were finished. They bid their farewells and left, letting the group know beforehand that they'd make front page and breaking news. Ren Amamiya looked down as a little black cat named Morgana came in with a piece of paper in his mouth; he knew it was a greeting from a certain attractive doctor congratulating him.

It all seemed so frivolous, the thieving life, and it might as well have been. But Ren found it so much fun, and so did his allies. Why would they ever give it up?

* * *

 **Welcome to a new fic (oh boy, more hiatuses for a story we don't care about)! The idea behind this one is to, to put it simply, carry on with the "thieves" aspect of the Phantom Thieves; they're criminals. Criminals do very questionable things. They're also all older-old enough to face certain repercussions for their actions, as this chapter hopefully proved. Also, this story takes certain elements from the original game, but other incidents and events are either altered or retold in this story, so don't expect apologies for "glossing over" some events or "messing with timelines". This is, after all, fan fiction.**

 **With that being said, enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

He found himself in jail. It might not have been his first time, given he was once convicted for aggravated assault, but there was something about this prison that made Ren Amamiya feel even more threatened. Maybe it was the uncharacteristic darkness pushed further by the deep navy blue all over the room, or maybe it was the fact that his left leg was cuffed to a giant ball-and-chain. Ren looked up from his leg and noticed two tiny guards at his cell door. Behind them, an odd figure sitting at a desk with a smile glowing from the darkness…

"Welcome, Trickster," said a deep voice, "to the Velvet Room."

* * *

"Clinic's closing now," said the dark-haired woman in her office-hours monotone. She didn't turn around from her filing duties.

"Doctor, I'd like to do a clinical trial," replied the visitor coolly.

Tae Takemi's face lit up and she immediately turned around to see Ren Amamiya leaning against the wall like some kind of magazine cover model. Maybe the young man was spending a little too much time with that Takamaki girl, Tae thought, but Amamiya could pull off that kind of look. She beamed at him without smiling as he approached her desk slowly.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" asked the doctor. "You're still looking pretty healthy for a 21-year-old, so what's on your mind?"

"You're gonna diagnose me without checking me out?" said the young man with a raised eyebrow. "Not very professional, Takemi-san."

'Oh, you bet I'm checking you out,' Tae screamed in her head. She retained her composure, however, and said, "Fine, then. Please head into the exam room."

Ren nodded with a smirk and entered the examination room, sitting on the table as usual. Dr. Takemi entered not long after, and she sat down at her desk in front of him. The bespectacled man stretched a bit as the two remained silent for a few comfortable seconds.

"So," said the doctor, turning to face him.

"So," mimicked the patient, getting more comfortable.

"I saw the news. I didn't know you were working."

"I try not to alert anyone that won't be part of the operation." Ren shrugged, as if brushing off the worry in the dark-haired doctor's tone. "Keeps suspicions lower," he added; he wasn't going to mention that his teammate's sister might be onto him after the unexpected encounter during his getaway phase.

"I'm still your doctor." Tae's rage was bubbling; Ren knew it, but he figured it'd be better to let her vent. "What if one of you got badly hurt?"

"Ryuji did get hurt," said the messy-haired man matter-of-factly, "but given his condition and the situation, it was too easy to make up an excuse for him anywhere."

"That's not the point. Only one doctor in this country knows about your 'extracurricular activities'," growled Tae as she crossed her arms. "You won't be able to cover work-related injuries from anyone, forever."

Ren stayed quiet. Given the amount of money he and his crew had "earned" in just four outings, he believed it wouldn't be necessary to go at it again for at least a year or two. However, the thrill of success was something he felt he'd gotten addicted to, especially considering all the hard work and exhausting fun that went into the job. Tae sighed loudly.

"Why are you here?" she asked lowly.

"I'm here to see you," answered Ren without looking at her.

"Cut the crap," she snapped. "Why are you really here?" Seeing as Ren wasn't answering, her brow furrowed. "You're thinking of working on another project, aren't you?"

"No," lied the man. He decided to add a bit of honesty, though. "I need your help."

"Oh?" Tae relaxed a little, but she still kept her eyes on Ren's tense shoulders. "What with?"

"I had a weird dream…"

"You do know I'm not that kind of doctor, right?"

Ren let out a small chuckle. "You did have to take psychology classes, though."

"Didn't you take Psych 101 two semesters ago?"

"Had to change it to literature; didn't fit my schedule."

Tae rolled her eyes and sighed with a grin. "Fine, I'll see what I can do…"

* * *

"What is this place?" asked Ren, looking around the prison.

"This place exists between dreams and reality," said the deep voice, "consciousness and unconsciousness. It varies depending on our guest."

Ren looked at the figure in the center of the room. If he could get through these bars, he might have a more personal conversation with whoever it was. He then noticed that the desk was surrounded by cells not unlike his own. Two diminutive figures approached his cell door from either side. Ren looked down at them and saw they were tiny twins with platinum blonde hair and mirroring black eye patches.

"About time you came to, Inmate!" yelled one of them angrily. "We can't wait forever for you to wake up!"

"Our master has arranged this visit to introduce ourselves," stated the other one calmly.

"My name is Igor. These are my assistants," said the girls' master. "To your left is Caroline; to your right, Justine."

"Pay our master his due respects!" yelled Caroline. "You should be honored that he even regards you, Inmate!"

"Why am I here?" said Ren. "What have I done to get into this prison?"

Igor's figure shifted forward a little, and the prisoner could see that it was an old man with a ridiculously long nose and bulging eyes with dots for irises. "The Velvet Room varies according to the visitor. If you see it as a prison, then it might be because you see life as an incarceration."

"You're shitting me," remarked the inmate. "If this place is where you say it is, then you should know what kind of man I am."

"You're a thief," said Justine, "a criminal of the pettiest caliber."

"Petty? At the scale that my team and I do our work?" scoffed Ren.

"It's still a crime! You'll be punished severely, Inmate!" shouted Caroline.

"You're a man who has achieved a personal freedom of sorts," said Igor. His smile widened and Ren's spine felt an unnatural chill. "You've led your associates into a freedom you can all call your own, for the sake of 'bending' the system to your will. You're still bound by shackles, however."

Ren looked back down at his left foot, and then back up. "What do you want from me?"

"You've led a group to realize that there's more to life than what you're given," replied Igor. "But just as you can see outside of your cell and speak with me, you're still behind bars."

"What the hell does that mean?!" said Ren, his patience starting to wear out.

Before Igor could answer anything, a loud bell that reminded Ren of his high school days rang. Caroline took out a baton and hit his cell door.

"Time's up, Inmate! Visiting hours are over! Go back to sleep!" yelled she.

"We will meet again, Trickster," said Igor, retreating back into the shadows. "Give tonight's conversation some thought."

"We'll be waiting for you," said Justine as Ren felt a force dragging him back into the cell's bed.

* * *

"…you've been watching too much anime," said Tae, trying to stifle a chuckle.

"Funny," muttered Ren in reply.

"Well, it's either that or we've gone to too many punk concerts," replied the doctor, removing her coat and putting it on a hanger. "Seriously, though, I wouldn't give it much thought; it was only one dream and it's about something you're often about."

She was right, Ren thought. This whole dream sequence had a huge "fuck the system" vibe to it; while he'd normally be hyped about that kind of attitude, there was something about Igor's presence and the oppressiveness of the Velvet Room that made it seem either bigger in scale or more threatening in meaning. The young man closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Tae looked at him and, wearing a compassionate expression, sat next to him and placed an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey," said the doctor softly, "how about we go have some dinner? Just you and me, hm?"

Ren looked up and shook his head softly. "Sorry, Tae, but I'll have to put a raincheck on that one. I gotta deal with our 'sponsor' tonight. How about tomorrow night?"

"Fine, it's a date." Tae did her best to hide the disappointment in her voice. Ren stood up and thanked her with a hug before leaving.

Ten minutes later, he was leaving the train station to meet up with Haru, who had sent him three reminder messages to meet up while he was visiting Dr. Takemi. As he was nearing the HQ of Okumura Foods, he heard a commotion nearby. He'd have chalked it up to a couple getting feisty, given the hour, if it wasn't for the female's pleads for the male to stop. He stopped dead in his tracks. Without realizing, he was moving closer to the source of the commotion. A bald man was forcing himself upon a woman, by the looks of it.

Ren was frozen. He knew he should stop him, but his record wasn't clean, and who knew how the guy would react? The woman's eyes darted over to him, and he noticed the desperation in her. Ren was trembling; his rage was bubbling up.

"What's wrong? Are you just going to stand there and watch?" a voice he somehow recognized as his own called out to him.

* * *

 **Events in this story are based on the original game. However, "based on" does not equal "are the same as".**

 **A life of crime does not befit one who pursues justice. The pursuit of justice is in itself a crime.**

 **"How can one respect the law when the law is disrespectful?" - Robert Parr, 2018**

 **The Trickster awakens.**

 **(What happens next?)**


	3. Chapter 3

Ren was frozen. He then realized that everything else was frozen, too. He stood there, the scene petrified to the point he thought he was going insane. The voice spoke again.

"You have a choice," it said. "Will you forsake the innocent to save yourself?"

Ren's brow furrowed as he growled, "I'm a thief, not a charity center."

" _Oui_ , but you're not some petty criminal, are you? You do it for the fame and the fortune, not out of necessity or vice, _non_?"

Ren scowled. He had a clue as to where this was going, and he wasn't sure he liked it. And yet…

"I have morals," he whispered. His fist clenched. He took a step forward, then another, and then another, as everything around him resumed to its normal course.

"What the—?" The bald man had barely any time to realize what was about to happen when a shadow grabbed him by the shoulder, spun him around, and decked him in the face. His glasses had broken, and so had his nose, but his drunken eyes still looked up, trying to identify the assailant. He saw another blur and his consciousness faded.

The attacker wasn't satisfied, though. He was holding the man by the collar and landing blow after furious blow on the unconscious man. The woman just leaned against the wall with her mouth agape, witnessing the brutal beatdown in terror. He seemed to be done, though, and he dropped the bloody pulp as he stood against the wall to catch his breath. Under the mess of black hair, Ren's eyes darted up to the woman.

"You… a'right?" he asked, panting. The woman nodded quickly, and Ren sighed. "Good… Call… police…" he said.

The woman ran out of the alley as quickly as her heels let her. Ren took a couple of deep breaths and disappeared from the site.

The elevator was slower than usual that night, though it wasn't something Ren would complain about. He needed to sort out his thoughts. What the hell was that loss of control back there? He needed to do something, but why not stop as soon as the man was off the woman?

"It's what you feel right," said the mysterious yet familiar voice. "You know that a warning's not enough to change the world; you need action."

"Who are you? Where are you?" said the young man as he rubbed his aching and bleeding knuckles.

"I am your spirit of rebellion," replied the voice. "I've been here for a long time, waiting for you to do more than just for yourself and your troupe. It's time you became a thief not for thrills but for justice."

"That's real cute," snapped Ren, "but all that corny stuff is making me sick. Why should I do whatever you just said?"

A face appeared before him; Ren recognized it as his own, but it had yellow eyes and a wild wide smile. It was still more than enough to make him step back in surprise. The voice came from the doppelgänger's mouth.

"But you have heeded my advice many times before," said the yellow-eyed copy. "When you choose not to risk your teammates' lives because you know those are worth much more than the money you take. When you decide not to keep all the money you take because you honor your 'sponsors'. When you know about economics enough to discern the perils to your country of moving all the money you steal out of circulation. You act like you don't care, Ren Amamiya, but your fellow man has always been more important to you than your quest for fame and fortune."

The doppelgänger's outfit erupted into blue flames, and Ren backed against the elevator's wall. The copy's smile never faltered as his outfit was turned into a red and black suit, and black wings erupted from his back. A black top hat appeared on his head afterwards.

"I am Arsène. I wish to form a pact with you," said the shadow as his face was distorted into a gray mask with an exaggerated version of his sinister smile painted in bright red. "Your goals are on the path to meeting what mine once were. You will need guidance to change the world; I will be of help."

"What the fuck…" Ren's eyes were wide with shock as he processed what was going on.

* * *

Haru was playing absentmindedly with her auburn hair while wearing a frown on her face. The meet-up time was about thirty minutes ago, and she knew her black-haired leader wasn't known to be late. She looked back at the bags that they were going to inspect to ensure the splitting would be even. Her phone rang, and she yelped in surprise. She checked the caller ID, and was disappointed to see it was Yusuke calling.

"Yes?" she said, her gentle voice shaking with worry.

"Is Ren not there yet?" asked the lanky artist calmly. "I was hoping you'd have sent a message with a progress report."

"No, he's not here yet," said Haru. "I'm very worried, Yusuke. What if something happened to him?"

"Ren is more than capable of handling his own," answered Yusuke reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll be there in a bit with an explanation."

"Thank you, Yusuke," said Haru, still not totally calm. "I'll keep you posted."

"Thank you, Haru," said the artist before hanging up.

"Where could he—oh?"

The elevator doors opened, and in came a man with messy black hair, a black coat, and a white mask. He approached slowly, as if stalking a prey. Haru was confused. This was definitely Ren Amamiya, but there was something off about him.

"R-Ren?" she asked nervously.

Ren didn't answer. He checked all the bags quickly, calculating the amount of money inside shortly after. He then grabbed one and approached the window.

Haru was getting genuinely scared. "Ren?"

With a quick, violent movement, Ren smashed the window with the bag as it flew out the building and hurtled all its contents in the air, raining down money onto the city below.

"Ren?! What the hell?!" Haru rushed over to her companion, grabbing him firmly by the arm and turning him around.

His psychopathic grin sent chills down her spine, and he muttered slowly, "We've got work to do."

* * *

"And you're sure he wasn't drunk or stoned?" asked Ryuji for the seventh time that morning.

"Ryuji, this is the seventh time this morning you've asked that," noted Ann.

"Sorry, it's just so hard to believe he'd just… do that." Ryuji scratched the back of his head.

The thieves had joined in an emergency session, sans their leader, after Haru notified them individually of the events that had occurred. While some couldn't arrive due to work or personal issues, the core personnel was present. They were wondering why Ren would want to do a new job so soon, especially after literally throwing his money out the window. Futaba pulled out her phone and started typing.

"What're you doing, Futaba?" asked Makoto, looking over to her short friend.

"Stuff," replied the sunset-haired woman.

"What kind of stuff?" asked Ann, also looking at her bespectacled friend.

"Things," replied the sunset-haired woman.

"What kind of things?" asked Yusuke, joining in the mantra.

"Stuff," replied the sunset-haired woman.

"What kind of—agh, cut the shit, Futaba!" exclaimed Ryuji. "What are you doing?!"

"Asking Ren if he's all right," said Futaba, annoyed that Ryuji didn't fall in the verbal trap. "You know how he usually answers to this stuff."

A reply appeared in Futaba's phone, and it read, "yeah we Gucci :v"

Futaba rolled her eyes; the answer was exactly as expected. The rest of the group huddled around her and took a look at their now developing conversation.

Mama-miya: yeah we Gucci :v

Me: u sure? Haru's worried bout u

Mama-miya: lmao why tho?

Me: smthn about u throwin ur munny

Mama-miya: nah I'm good, just beat the shit outta some dude before I went to meet her tho lmao

Haru exchanged worried looks with the rest of the group. Ren hadn't shared that detail with her, and it also didn't explain the outrageous outfit he was wearing when he met up with her.

Me: well I thought u were beetin ur meet cuz u came in late to the meetin :P

Mama-miya: haha -_-

Me: Haru said smthn bout ur clothes tho

Mama-miya: wut

Futaba looked at Haru, and she described once more the outfit Ren was wearing last night.

Me: smthn bout a coat n a mask? idk lol

Mama-miya: and I thought Yusuke was weird :v

Yusuke scoffed at the comment, and Ryuji was chortling at it. Futaba rolled her eyes once again, her brow furrowing.

Me: k but then what's this bout a new job tho?

Mama-miya: you'll see ;3c

"Okay, now I know there's something wrong with him," said Futaba after reading his reply.

Me: tell me pls?

Mama-miya: hmmm

Mama-miya: why?

Me: idk the fact that we're all worried?

Mama-miya: sheesh thx mom :v

Me: I'm fukin srs

Me: u throw ur munny and want a new job?

Me: there's smthn fishy here e.e

Mama-miya: gathering intel on the target

Mama-miya: might give you a hint if you behave :v

Me: succ a cocc bitch

Mama-miya: no thx I prefer da pussi b0ss :v

Haru, Ann, and Makoto let out some sort of disgusted exclamation, but Futaba chuckled and kept typing.

Me: lemme guess u wanna topple the govmnt or smthn? lol

Mama-miya: …

Mama-miya: tbh that's not a bad idea

Me: what.

Mama-miya: I was thinking something about reforming society or whatever :v

Mama-miya: that works well lmao

Me: fuk off u weirdo

Futaba put away her phone with a sigh. The rest of the group was commenting on what he meant by "reforming society," but Futaba saw something different as well.

"You guys…" she announced, and the rest of the group turned to look at her. "Did you notice that he said he was gathering intel on the target?"

"Isn't that, like, our job as a group?" said Ann, her blue eyes widening. "That's always step one after we decide on the target."

"Which means he's gonna do this with or without us," muttered Makoto. "Shit."

"Then we gotta help him!" said Ryuji. "No way am I gonna let that dumbass go get himself killed! …also, are we SURE—"

"Stop asking, Ryuji; he's clearly lost his mind!" said Ann, exasperated.

* * *

 **The Trickster awakens.**

 **How does the team handle their leader's apparent madness? (Like only they would)**

 **Will Ren reveal his new abilities to his gang? (Of course he will; they're a team!)**

 **Are consequences a thing in this series? (Of course they are; they're not immediate, though!)**

 **Will this chapter get reported for using text/chat format? Honestly, I hope so just so I can tell ffn to allow more written formats; literature's not only prose and verse!**

 **Honestly, this chapter and maybe the following will drag on for a bit, but that's because stuff has to happen before stuff happens.**

 **...I'm not making up excuses, I swear.**

 **Do leave reviews; I honestly enjoy them!**


	4. Chapter 4

"A doping test? What the hell do you think this is, some American cop show?" asked the blue-haired doctor.

"Hey, I know you got some weird stuff going on here, so that wouldn't be too far-fetched!" said the short redhead with an accusing finger.

"I'm not drugging him or anything of the sort, if that's what you're suggesting," replied the doctor, crossing her arms.

"You gotta be doing something, if you got him going after your old ass," snapped the redhead, looking away with a grimace.

"Okay, I'm gonna have to stop you right there," said the doctor, her anger piqued, "First, I'm only twelve years older than him; second, we're not even a thing!"

Futaba and Tae had been bickering for the past ten minutes in a row. Ann was inwardly grateful she came along to witness the show, though she wasn't sure she could say the same for Makoto.

"Ladies, can we please stop?" suggested the brunette with a nervous expression. "We could settle this argument later…"

"Doctor Takemi," added Ann, glad that Makoto finally intervened, "we just wanted to know if you could administer the exam. If you can't, then I'm sure some other doctor—"

"I'll do the tests," said Takemi, still unnerved with the short woman in front of her. "You still haven't given me a proper explanation as to why, though."

"We noticed he's been behaving weird, is all," explained Makoto. "We've tried asking him about it, but he's been… elusive."

"We thought he was hanging with a new crowd," added Futaba. "Wouldn't be surprised if he was fuckin' around with you, though."

"That's enough, Futaba," reprimanded Makoto.

* * *

"So you're saying this one's owned by some mob kid with too much time in his hands?"

"Not sure if mob, but I've heard from my old buddies some rumors about laundering and extortion going on around that bank."

"Do you have anyone who can look into it further, or am I gonna have to handle that with my team?"

"I can ask for a few favors, but I can't promise much else, Ren."

Ren sighed and adjusted his glasses while turning around. He faced another bank; its architectural style differed slightly from its neighbor. He rubbed his chin in thought as Iwai turned to him. A proverbial light bulb was starting to glow.

"Whose is that?" asked the bespectacled man. His brain's gears were already whirring.

"Dunno," answered the older man. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wonderin'. I'll be in touch," said Ren, turning away while waving Iwai goodbye. He took a few steps down the street, spotting a manhole cover nearby. He made a mental note of it and added a reminder to check the personnel soon. His phone rang. "Great," he muttered while checking the message that summoned him to a certain clinic in Yongen-Jaya.

* * *

"Man, this seat sure is uncomfortable… I wonder if we could use our taxpayers' yens to get the whole train infrastructure into a better condition. That girl's got a nice ass. Makoto and Tae have better asses, though. I wonder what Tae wants with me. Did Futaba talk to her about whatever it was that Haru told her? God, dude, stop picking your nose like that; it's disgusting! Some people need to learn that some things aren't meant to be done in public. Public sex, though. Man, that was a good angle from the cameraman; does one need formal training to be the camera guy in porn? Great, now I'm thinking about sex. I ain't had a good bangin' in a while, dammit. That song Futaba showed me was called 'Fuck Machine', wasn't it? Weird how she and Ann know the most English from the group… I'd smash both, to be honest—fuck, I'm back to sex. My pants aren't baggy enough for situations like this. I should ask Ryuji where he gets his sweatpants. Though his style is more 'thug' while I prefer more… punk? Hm, I don't really have a style, do I? Tae could help me with the whole 'punk' business, though. God, she's gorgeous. Fuck, that chick's been looking at me for the last minute or so. Is there something on my face? I bet it's the glasses; it's always the fucking glasses. Maybe I should get a hoodie to hide my face. Haru said something about a mask, didn't she? I don't think I changed clothes when I got to her building, so how the hell did I have a—wait, Igor said something about it… What the hell is the deal with his nose, though? He looks pulled out of a fucking cartoon. The guard girls are adorable, though Caroline is a bit too loud… Is that my stop? I don't think I—fuck, that _is_ my stop. Great, I gotta pass through Stare-chan and Mr. Nose-picker. Gross."

* * *

Dr. Takemi was hoping Ren wouldn't show up as fast as he did. When he came in with his usual smirk, she almost didn't feel like giving him that examination. The thought of giving him another "examination" crossed her mind momentarily, but she quickly shushed it down. Not like he'd accept either way, right?

"You wanted me?" asked the bespectacled man coolly.

'Bitch I've been wanting you for a while but you're a piece of shit' Tae managed to control her thoughts as she said, "Yes, Amamiya-kun, it's time for your monthly doping exam."

Ren gave her a quizzical look. "Didn't know I had that, Doctor Takemi. Hell, I'm not even working."

"Shut up and head to the exam room," snapped the blue-haired doctor. It was taking all her willpower to go through with this, but the fact that he mentioned work was a good reason for her to do it.

"Jeez, fine…"

* * *

Haru was busy working with documentation when her phone rang. She looked up from her mountain of papers and saw that it was a text message from Futaba that read, "NEthin?" It took her a good ten seconds to figure out that it was the orange-haired woman's ridiculous way of asking for any news about Ren. She sighed as she thought of the raven-haired man before replying.

Chibi-chan: NEthin?

Me: Nothing yet, no

Chibi-chan: fucc wtfs he doin

Me: Hopefully he's taking the doping exam?

Chibi-chan: bet hes bangin the doc

Me: Futaba, that's gross!

Chibi-chan: what? id smash her 2 if i wuz him :v

Me: I did not need to know that

Chibi-chan: hehe ;3

Haru groaned and put away her phone, resuming her work. She was used to laundering for the Phantom Thieves by now, and had gotten rather good at it since Ren and Makoto started to teach her about law and business. It didn't do anything about the constant afterthought that kept whispering "what if you're found out?" She had learned to ignore that thought ages ago, but Ren's recent episode of madness made her question the leader's motives for the group. She sighed and stood up, deciding to leave the work pile up for the upcoming weekend; she didn't want to meet with anyone then. Was what they were doing right? She entered the elevator, dialing for the roof. Of course not, they're criminals by definition. The doors opened, and she walked to her private garden. But they only hurt the ones that needed hurting, or so they seemed to think. She knelt beside her tomatoes as a shadow fell over her face.

"After all this time, you question your goals?"

Haru gasped and looked up, expecting to see something but finding nothing. She looked around, her wariness increasing. She saw nothing, but the voice seemed so real… Maybe it was her head playing tricks on her again. She shuddered and kept tending her garden.

* * *

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"It's easier for you cause you have more experience!"

"Well, you do have to work on your stamina…"

"Shaddup, Ryuji! My whole body hurts!"

"That's supposed to happen after the first three or four times, Ann!"

"I've only started last month!"

"But you haven't been as constant as I was when I started working out!"

"I said shut up, you gym rat!"

Ann was sweating a lot while rubbing her aching thighs. Ryuji rolled his eyes and looked away, irritated. Ann had asked him to train her to help out with her modeling career, and Ryuji had eagerly accepted. Both were now regretting their decisions. The blonde was cursing inwardly at her pain and her stupidity at choosing the beefiest of the guys to train her instead of someone like Makoto, who would probably adapt the training regimen to suit her. Ryuji sighed and sat next to her, his hand unconsciously going to his right leg and rubbing it. Ann noticed, though.

"Your leg still hurts, huh?" she asked. "Wait, didn't the doctor tell you to lower your workout intensity until you recovered?!"

"Work through the pain," grunted Ryuji, still rubbing his leg.

"You idiot!" Ann yelled. "You can't work at all if your leg gets worse!"

Ryuji remained quiet for a moment, his grip tightening on his leg. He grimaced for a moment, and Ann looked at him with worry. He opened his eyes after a few deep breaths and looked at the blonde.

"Don't worry," he said reassuringly, "I'll be fine. We should worry more about Ren-Ren."

Ann was about to make a witty reply when her phone rang. She said instead, "We'll see about that… What? Well, this is great."

"What is it?" asked Ryuji as his phone rang too. "Oh?"

Both blond and blonde had received a message from Ren. It read "meeting 9:30".

* * *

"What the hell do you mean by 'I found nothing'?!"

"It means 'I found diddly-squat', you gremlin. These tests take time, you know."

"You're literally the worst doctor in history!"

"I've been called worse."

Makoto was rubbing her temple and decided to intervene. "Guys, please, let's just take this and go, okay?"

"You're not a part of this, Makoto!" yelled Takemi and Futaba in unison.

"For crying out loud…" groaned the brunette.

Five minutes later, the three women were walking to LeBlanc with annoyed expressions. They entered the café and were greeted by a female security guard in a black uniform with long, messy black hair. She turned around and they saw she was wearing dark lipstick and eyeshadow. Well, they were sure that she was female until "she" welcomed them.

"About time someone showed up," said the person with a familiar deep voice. Tae gasped, Makoto squealed, and Futaba screamed, all in surprise.

"WHAT THE FUCK, YOU'RE A GIRL?!" Futaba screamed, pointing at the group's leader.

"You look good, Ren," commented Tae with a choked laugh.

"What's this about?" asked Makoto, still taken aback.

"Let's wait for the others to come," said Ren, sitting on a tall stool and crossing his legs. Tae couldn't help but feel envious of the long black boots he was wearing. "We have much to discuss."

The three women looked at each other before taking their seats facing Ren. Makoto was looking away, embarrassed, but Tae and Futaba were staring at him. Ren wasn't looking at them, but he felt their gaze on him. The silence was broken when Morgana meowed loudly, surprising Futaba.

"He's here! Kitty!" said the orange-haired woman, extending her arms as the black cat leapt into them.

"Mona's been helping me a lot," said Ren while the café's door opened and Yusuke and Haru entered.

"What's the meaning of this, Ren?" said Yusuke, scandalized at the sight of the cross-dressing leader.

"Where'd you get that whip?" asked Haru, noticing the item at Ren's left.

"Wait, he's got a whip too?!" said Tae, standing up quickly and running to snatch it from Ren's hands.

"Hey, what the hell? Give it back!" said Ren, trying to get the whip back. Tae giggled and swatted at his hand with the whip playfully. Makoto looked at the scene with a weirded-out look.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, he was surrounded by his group's questions and trying to get them to settle down.

"All right, all right, I need your attention!" said the leader. Once the group quieted down and had their attention to him, he pulled out a roll for blueprints. "We have a new project."

"I thought you weren't gonna do any more projects for a while?" said Tae, raising her hand.

"Why are you even here, doc?" said Futaba, glaring at her. "This is for core members only."

"What the hell is 'core members'?" asked Ryuji, curious. "I thought he'd cc'd the message to all of us."

Futaba was about to argue against Tae, but Morgana meowed loudly again, giving Ren a chance to continue.

"I changed my mind," he said calmly. "I decided to look up more stuff we can fix."

"What's in it for us?" asked Ann. "I don't think you'd take this project if you didn't think it could help us in some way."

"Nah, this one's cause I felt like being a bit of help. We're taking on a mob boss," said the leader quickly. "After this case, I plan to go international."

The café burst into a cacophony.

"What the hell do you mean, 'mob boss'?!"

"International?"

"So there's nothing in it for us?"

"YOU'RE planning to WHAT?!"

"How are we involved in this project, Ren?"

"Ren, please explain yourself."

"Why the hell is the doctor still here?"

"MMMMMMREOW!"

"All right, all right; calm down!" said Ren, raising his hands in an attempt to shush everyone down. "We'll discuss this further when I have more information."

Ryuji rolled his eyes.

"Ren-Ren, you moron. How the hell do you expect us to help you when you're leaving us in the dark?" he asked in a serious voice.

"I'll be infiltrating the target for a few weeks before I give us a date to act," explained the raven-haired man. "I'll keep you updated in the meantime."

* * *

 **Things happen while our leader gathers information on the target and begins to plan the Phantom Thieves' next operation. Hopefully, Dr. Takemi will bring good news to the team... or will she?**

 **Also, this summer's been unbearably hot... Pray the Phantom Thieves survive theirs.**


	5. Chapter 5

Yusuke flung his notebook across his room in frustration. How anyone would dare desecrate the name and values of art by "creating" the ready-made was beyond him, but he knew one thing: He hated Duchamp with all his soul. Worse still, Duchamp wasn't the only one to pervert art in this fashion! No, he was _part of a_ _movement_ called Dada! The lanky young man groaned in frustration. He hadn't had the time to study modern art history in the past, partly from his formation as an artist purely, with only focuses on aesthetic theories, and barely any coverage on history besides basic material that was common knowledge (the Greeks and Romans, the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Romanticism, Impressionism, and some Avant-Garde movements). Yusuke walked across his room to fetch his notebook, though. He needed to write an essay on Dada due the following week, and he needed to review his lectures to see where he could start. His phone vibrated, much to his increasing annoyance.

"What could it be now?" he asked himself as he grabbed it. Once he read the text he cursed inwardly and threw his phone into his pillow before groaning with his fingertips on his forehead.

* * *

Ryuji wiped his brow with his towel while he, too, grabbed his phone. It was a message from Amamiya who, by all intents and purposes, was practically MIA. It read, "Operation at bank. Date: 15/6."

The athlete's first intent was to ask what the hell he'd been doing all this time, but he knew Ren well enough to assume that he'd been familiarizing himself with the group's target. His second thought was to ask when they'd meet up to prepare the operation, which is what he eventually did.

Ren-Ren: Operation at bank. Date: 15/6.

Me: kk but when we gonna meet up?

Ren took his sweet time replying. In the meantime, Ryuji did his final set of pulldowns before calling it a day (or 90 minutes) at the gym. He'd gotten another text, this time from his mother, telling him to buy some groceries before heading home, so he rushed to the train station. While he hopped onto the train, he calculated that the selected date was in about three weeks, which was a rather tight time frame for the group to calculate an operation. He supposed their target would have an important event going on at that date, since it was customary for the Phantom Thieves to act when something big was happening, both to garner plenty of attention and to further humiliate the target (or something like that, Ryuji mused; he often liked to make the heists seem more grandiose than they were).

As he chuckled inwardly at the thought, he noticed a small commotion happening not too far away from him. He noticed a small group of guys huddled together, making a sort of circle. His brow raised by itself, almost on instinct. Something whispered to him in his ear to look closer. He automatically obeyed.

* * *

Ren found himself in the Velvet Room once more. He wondered how he could use the long-nosed man in the center to his advantage when he spoke to him first.

"Trickster," Igor said, "you've been working tirelessly on your latest 'assignment', but you've been neglecting other aspects of yourself."

The inmate gave him a quizzical look. Caroline clanged on his cell's bars with her baton, and clarified, "You haven't invested in your Persona yet, Inmate!"

"How the hell am I supposed to invest in something I have no idea about?" Ren said with a snarky voice. "What _is_ a Persona, anyway?"

"It's the incarnation of your inner self," said Justine calmly. "It's the 'you' that you hide from society's judgmental eyes."

"Huh," said the raven-haired man, his mind whirring. "Well, that's rather useful. How do I…?"

"You must allow your Persona to manifest to be able to use it. Everybody wears a mask, Trickster." Igor's smile widened, hinting Ren that he knew much more than he let out.

* * *

The girl couldn't have been older than seventeen, Ryuji mused as he approached the source of the commotion. The men closest to him huddled even closer, barricading him from the still visible schoolgirl being groped and slyly stripped of her undergarments. Ryuji's breathing became harder and his pulse quickened. He knew he had to do something. Clenching his fists, he opted to start by talking.

"Oi," he called out. The men harassing the girl briefly stopped to look at the athlete glaring at them, but one of their "guards" intervened.

"You lose something around here, punk?" said he with a nasal voice that made Ryuji's blood boil.

"Y'all think what you're doing is okay?" said the blond, attempting his best to control his voice from cracking.

"Get lost if you know what's good for you, boy," said another of the "guards".

"You should leave her alone." Ryuji's fist was starting to shake. The blood pumping all over his body made him ignore the exhaustion from the gym.

"Reasoning with them is futile, and you know it."

Ryuji blinked in surprise. He didn't recall saying that, but it sounded so like his own voice. His surroundings had muted somehow, he realized, and the scene developing in front of him had frozen in place. He could see the little fat man's hand tugging down the schoolgirl's panties, while the taller, thinner man had his hands inside her shirt, obviously copping more than a feel. Ryuji took another step forward when his own voice called out to him again.

"You're outnumbered. It'll take more than just your fists to save that girl."

"I have to do something," growled Ryuji. "I don't care what; I have to stop them!"

"You seek power, then, correct?" said the voice once more. "Even after all you've done, you're still good at heart."

Ryuji stopped again. "What the hell are you on about? Just cause I'm a thief doesn't mean I can't help people!"

"Then let us form a pact…" The voice faded away as Ryuji stubbornly returned everything to its course.

The man immediately before Ryuji received a fistful of pain straight to the nose while the one right next to him reacted too slowly to receive one in the jaw right after. The third and fourth were too surprised to do anything to stop Ryuji from grabbing the thin man from behind and ripping him away from the girl, throwing him into the startled guard. The little fat man shoved the girl into Ryuji to make his getaway, but two of the other men immediately jumped Ryuji and the girl, and it took him a lot to shake them off enough for the girl to scuttle away from the skirmish. He didn't know how much time he had been fighting the group, but eventually the train stopped with a lurch, letting him have more inertia to break one of the men's jaw. The people in the train were making another commotion while the security officers came in and broke up the group.

* * *

Ann was feeling fresh again after a long day. A warm shower definitely did the trick, she knew, and to top it off she'd bought some lemon pie so she'd spend the evening lounging while watching TV. She had read Ren's message about the operation but elected to ignore it until he clarified the details.

'Ah, whatever,' she thought as she turned on the TV. 'It's not like he'll have us running around looking like dumbasses.'

Ann switched to the news channel.

"…and while witnesses state that the young masked man had acted to help a schoolgirl (whose name is protected) who was allegedly being sexually harassed by the aforementioned group, he might still have to face up to three weeks of jail time for assault if the judge—"

Her fork dropped with a loud clink. Her eyes were plates as she saw video footage of a young man whose build and hair reminded her heavily of Ryuji, but the rest of his appearance was off. He was wearing an odd black jacket and a red ascot ("Ryuji hates ascots!" thought Ann). When he turned around for less than a second, a skull mask was attached to his face.

She couldn't believe it at all. She quickly put her plate on the table next to her and ran to her room to get her cellphone. She was feeling that odd tingle of terror creeping into her face as she opened it and quickly texted Ryuji, asking him if everything was ok.

* * *

"I told you again, I can't take it off; I wasn't even aware I had a mask on!" said Ryuji with increasing irritation.

"Sakamoto-san, we know you must be feeling frustrated, but we need this for your record. An assault charge isn't something to be taken lightly." The guard crossed his arms, ignoring the fact that Ryuji's hands were tied behind him. At that moment, Ryuji's phone, which was on the table, vibrated with Ann's messages. Ryuji looked at the guard and gestured towards his phone.

"Am I at least allowed a phone call?" said the masked man innocently.

The guard sighed and moved to unshackle him. "You have five minutes," he said as he left the interrogation room.

Ryuji sighed loudly once he was left alone. He glanced at the one-way mirror at the other side of the room and noticed his reflection was staring back with a smile.

"You've made me wait quite a while…" said the reflection. "Your name has been disgraced, so why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc?"

The reflection stood now before Ryuji, its face being peeled into a skull with an eye patch over his right eye. His outfit burst into flames which subsided to leave a classic pirate outfit. A ship appeared in the corner of the room, as if awaiting its captain.

"What the hell, that's pretty effin' cool!" said Ryuji excitedly. "But… what are you?"

"I'm the other you that desires to wave the flag of rebellion. My name is Captain William Kidd." The pirate took off his hat in respectful introduction. Ryuji, easily impressed, laughed in amazement.

"Wow, wait till I tell Ann about this!" he said, as Captain Kidd slowly dissipated in front of him with a smirk. He grabbed his phone and read the messages Ann left him.

Gorgeous: RYUJI SAKAMOTO PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE TELL ME YOU DID NOT GET ARRESTED FOR FIGHTING SOME ASSHOLES

Gorgeous: I SAW A GUY ON TV THAT LOOKED A LOT LIKE YOU TELL ME IT WASN'T YOU

Gorgeous: OMFG RYU IF YOU'RE REALLY IN JAIL I'M GONNA KILL YOU AND THEN TAKE YOUR CORPSE TO YOUR MOM SO WE CAN CRY TOGETHER AND THEN I'LL KILL YOU AGAIN FOR MAKING US CRY WTFFFF

Gorgeous: FFS ANSWER ME PLEASE I'M SUPER WORRIED ABOUT YOU

Me: i have little time and one call gimme a sec

Ryuji quickly tapped the screen to call Ann. Her shriek was almost loud and sharp enough to shatter the one-way mirror.

"CARE TO FUCKIN' EXPLAIN YOURSELF?!" she yelled, the worry insanely obvious in her voice. "YOU'VE GOT A LOT TO ANSWER TO, YOUNG MAN!"

"Oh, great," said the blond sarcastically, "now I have two moms! You gonna ask me about the groceries too?"

"THIS ISN'T A JOKE, RYUJI!"

"I did what I had to do! Hell, I'd do it a million times if I had to!"

"What did you tell your mom?" asked Ann, lowering her voice but running a frustrated hand through her loose golden locks.

"Nothing yet; you're the first person that came to mind," said Ryuji with a sheepish grin.

"Oh my god; being corny isn't gonna get you out of trouble, you dumbass!" said Ann as her face warmed up ever so slightly.

"Sorry," said Ryuji, smiling now. "By the way…"

"Yes?" said Ann, a smile appearing on her face despite her worry for her comrade.

"…either I'm drugged too, or Ren wasn't at all."

"What's that mean?"

Before Ryuji could explain, a tall silver-haired woman entered the room with an austere expression. He recognized her as Makoto's sister Sae Niijima. He quickly hung up on Ann, apprehensive of what would happen next. Sae sat down in front of him and eyed him over before looking at the door.

"Honestly," she said, "I've seen some weird cases, but your mysterious outfit change is pretty baffling, Sakamoto-kun."

Ryuji's eyes darted to the one-way mirror, where he saw himself in the gym outfit he was wearing before the incident. His reflection gave him a wink, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. He turned back to Sae and asked her why she was there.

"Eyewitnesses stated that you acted to protect another," she explained quickly, looking at the notepad in her hand. "And since both the main victim and others testified in your favor, this is enough to reduce your sentence to just one night."

Ryuji sighed in relief and ran his hand through his hair. Sae gave him a compassionate smile before continuing, though.

"However," she said, "the fact that you acted violently and took the law into your own hands instead of contacting the authorities is enough to put a nasty little spot on your record."

"What?! This is bullshit!" exclaimed Ryuji, all relief leaving him immediately. "Just cause I helped a girl I'm getting a black mark?!"

"I'm sorry, Sakamoto-kun, but I don't make the rules," said Sae in a defeatist tone. "Please, know that I'll do my best to ensure this doesn't affect you negatively."

"But it will!" said Ryuji, impatient. "Ren's been through this; you know that! This whole system is effin' broken—oh."

Sae ignored the blond's self-interruption and said simply, "I'll do my best for you, but please don't go out kicking harassers' asses again," before giving him a compassionate expression and leaving.

Alone again, Ryuji faced Captain Kidd once more. The pirate image was smiling at him.

"You seem pleased about something," said Kidd.

"I think I finally get what Ren's going for… He's gonna need our help!" replied Ryuji.

"Indeed, but you seem to understand more than just that. Maybe we'll have to chat with Ren once we're out of the can?" suggested the Persona.

"Yeah… wait, you've never said 'aaargh' or 'scallywag' or 'landlubber'! What kinda pirate are you?"

"That's a stupid gimmick invented by the government to mock us and you know it!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

* * *

"Hello? R-Ryuji? Helloooo?"

Ann's frustration bubbled up once again after he hung up on her. Just what did he mean by that comment about Ren? Why on Earth did he get into a scuffle and end up arrested? What's she gonna tell his mother? As she pondered these questions, her phone started ringing. She answered the call when she saw it was her best friend Shiho calling.

"…Tell me you saw it too! …Yes, he called me and told me it's true! …I know, I know, what got into him? …I know…"

* * *

Tae handed Ren a paper and a disappointed look. Ren looked down at it and back at the doctor.

"Why the long face?" asked the bespectacled man. "Were you hoping I was stoned or something?"

"It'd make things easier to explain," replied the blue-haired doctor. "What the hell are you going to do?"

Ren figured it'd be easiest to tell her the truth. "Rob a bank owned by a mob boss," he said shortly.

"I know that already," snapped Tae. "What made you think that any of this was a good idea?"

Ren tilted his head questioningly at Tae. "You know what we do, Tae. If you're going to start questioning me, you should've done this way sooner."

Tae scoffed and turned her back to Ren. She despised to admit when he was right, but she still worried over him. He approached her slowly from behind, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing them softly.

"We'll be fine; it won't be unnecessarily complicated," said he. "All we need to do now is plan for—"

"AHA! I KNEW YOU WERE BANGING!"

"WHA—HEY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, SHORTY?!"

"Sheesh, Futaba, you jump to conclusions so quickly…"

* * *

 **The pirate sets sail to meet with the thief.**

 **The date for the new first heist approaches.**


	6. Chapter 6

"So what can we really do with this… this power?"

"Again, fuck if I know, Ryuji."

"Dammit, Ren-Ren, this opens up a crapton of opportunities for us! Whaddaya mean you don't know?"

"I know, but we can't get too reckless without understanding what it is first."

"You're telling me you've had it for over a month and you still don't understand it?!"

"Pipe down; people are starting to stare."

* * *

Futaba was grumbling lowly while booting up her PC. The sudden loud whirring of the computer was a sign of endangered life that awoke her motherly instinct.

"Oh, no, baby," said the redhead while touching the tower to check its temperature. "Did Mama upset you? Did I leave something running this morning and you're reminding me of it? Huh? Huh?"

The whirring died down, and the program she was working on, labeled "Interception", appeared on the screen, confirming her theory.

"Aww, I'm sorry!" said Futaba, clacking away at her keyboard to finish writing the current method before saving the project. "Mama will be more careful!"

As she closed her programming app, a thought crossed her head. She immediately picked up her phone and texted her group leader.

Me: hey dork :v

It took Ren less than two minutes to reply.

Mama-miya: sup dork

Me: w0t u doin?

Mama-miya: hangin with Ryuji :v why tho?

Me: ah nvm then

Disheartened, she decided to text someone else. The meek Yuuki Mishima was often willing to humor her, if only to geek out together.

Me: oi Mishi-Mishi

Kekles: yes?

Me: w0t u doin

Kekles: working why?

Me: u still hittin on Ohya? :o

Kekles: sheesh no I'm under her tutelage and she's a demon

Me: bet she's a demon in bed 2 ayy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Kekles: you're distracting me from work

Me: fine fine jeez :'v

Slightly irked, she went on to text someone else. She was oblivious to the message notification from Ren. She let out a groan of bored frustration while she decided to annoy Makoto.

Me: heya~!

Lady: Hello, Futaba.

Me: suuuup?

Lady: I'm cleaning the house. Why do you ask?

Me: eww kk nvm :v

Lady: Fine. Have a good day!

Futaba was on the verge of tears from utter boredom. Why was it that everyone else was busy on the day she had decided to take off? She groaned loudly enough for Sojiro to ask her from the floor below if she was alright (she obviously said yes). She turned to her computer, opened a browser window, and pressed Ctrl+Shift+N as her phone rang. Her interest was piqued for a moment but instantly died down when she saw it was Dr. Takemi (Futaba, Ann, and Makoto had all given her their phones when she became their "in-house doctor"—in name only).

BITCH: Test results negative.

Me: K

BITCH: Saw Ryuji on TV. Says he's out now.

Me: K

BITCH: Tell him to drop by.

Me: K

Futaba groaned in annoyance and tossed her phone to her bed. She still didn't notice the other message left by Ren.

* * *

Ren put away his phone. He found it weird that Futaba hadn't answered him in a while, but he assumed she was busy. He went along with Ryuji's idea to go to a park that night; it'd be a lot better to "experiment" in an open space (Ren was surprised at Ryuji's unusual caution, but he had mentioned something about a ship…). There were a few couples here and there, they saw, huddled together in their own little lovey-dovey bubbles. They walked to a small quiet clearing surrounded by a ring of trees and faced each other.

"This would look wrong in any other circumstance, y'know," said Ryuji matter-of-factly.

"You're a dumbass," retorted Ren while rolling his eyes. They looked firmly at each other for a good minute or two; anyone would think they were about to begin a gun-slinging duel.

"So…" said Ryuji tentatively, understanding the awkwardness of the situation, "…what exactly do we do?"

"Fuck if I know," answered Ren with a shrug. "I've only called on Arsène once."

"Yours is called Arsène? That's pretty cool! Mine's called Captain Kidd!" said Ryuji with a gleeful expression.

Somehow, the calling of the image's name made a blue flame quickly engulf the blond before disappearing and leaving him in the strange outfit that he was wearing when he was detained. Ren saw the image of a pirate standing on a small ship appear behind his friend. He let out a small "whoa" and pointed at Captain Kidd before noticing the red gloves on his hands. He looked at himself and saw the outfit that both Futaba and Haru had described about him. He turned around and met with Arsène looking down at him with something that he would've guessed was pride.

"It appears we've been summoned," said the red-clad demon calmly. "What shall we do tonight?"

* * *

Having finished her business for the evening, Futaba now lay in her bed. Her orange hair was splayed all over her bed, giving her head the appearance of a molten meteor (at least, that's how Ren described it once, much to her amusement). She didn't know what time it was, and she didn't know what to do with the blueprints that her bespectacled (and now cross-dressing—daytime only, though) leader had sent her a few days prior. She decided to check her phone when she saw Ren's unread message. It read: "if you wanna 1v1 me or sth just call me you scrub".

She was so tempted to call him, but she remembered that Takemi had said that the drug test results were negative. She dialed another number first, just to make sure of something.

"Hello?" said Haru's soft voice.

"Yo," replied the younger woman quickly, "so Ren wasn't drugged or anything."

"Oh! That's a relief!" said the curly-haired woman happily.

"Yeah, but that makes me wonder what the hell was—and is—going through his head." Futaba went to her chair in front of the computer and closed the current window, which contained the last evidence of her latest sin. "He sent me the blueprints to our target, you know," she added.

"He told us all," Haru reminded her. "Do you have something planned yet?"

"No," answered Futaba, "but I'm working on it. He's hell-bent on doing this, and we gotta make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble for this."

"Did you call me just for the news, though?" Haru's voice, though still soft as ever, now carried a hint of worry.

"Fuck no! Did you hear about Ryuji, though?"

"Ann told me something about it. She said that Ryuji… kinda had an episode like Ren's…"

Futaba remained silent. Haru knew her well enough to understand that the gears in her head were whirring at incredible speeds right now. She gave her a few seconds to think.

"Tell you what," finally said Futaba, "I'mma call Ann. I've got something right under my nose but I can't quite catch it…"

"Alright," answered Haru. "Anything else you need, I'm here, okay?"

"'Kay! Laters!" said the sunset-haired woman before hanging up. She dialed Ann's number next.

* * *

Ren and Ryuji were displaying some symptoms of exhaustion. The images of Arsène and Captain Kidd remained with them, however, as the young men were testing their new abilities. As both monsters chopped down yet another few branches with their odd powers, which both humans rushed to catch to minimize the commotion they were making, Ryuji decided to speak up.

"This is so effin' mind-blowing!" said he, excited. "Imagine what we could do with this power!" He smirked and his Persona smirked with him. "We could do whatever we want!"

"I don't think robbing banks is the best use of our power, though," said Arsène behind Ren. Both men turned to face him. The red-clad monster crossed his arms before saying, "Think what we're here for."

"We're the rebellious spirits within you," added Kidd. "We know as well as you do what you really want."

"Robbing this bank is just the test run," said Ren, sitting down to catch his breath. As Ryuji sat next to him, he rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, "If Igor knew about Ryuji awakening his Persona, does that mean he knows who can awaken one? I think I'll have to ask him."

"The bank," said the masked blond next to him. "We're breaking into it because the owner's done some really nasty stuff, aren't we?"

"I've been there long enough to dig pretty deep in there," replied the brunet with a nod. He turned to his Persona. "You know what I know. This test run won't just be for ourselves, but to see whether we can go bigger with our group."

"Indeed," answered Arsène. "We mustn't assume anything, nonetheless. Our plan must adapt to new developments, not rush in with what we don't have."

"Hey, you two!" called out a man's voice as a flashlight pointed at both Ren and Ryuji's eyes. "What's going on here?"

"Damn, it's the security guard," said Ren, shielding his face from the flashlight. "How the hell long have we been here?"

"We gotta run for it," suggested Ryuji, standing up and starting a sprint away from the scene. The chopped branches were tossed in a pile near where the officer's voice was coming from, so he obviously headed the other direction.

Ren took off as well, remembering the other exit that was where Ryuji was most likely headed. He didn't know why, but he felt much lighter on his feet now than earlier. Ryuji wasn't too far ahead, either, and they both jumped over the park's fence (the gates were closed, hinting as to why the guard came in so suddenly) and headed sneakily to the station. Ren suddenly noted something as they snuck about.

"Wait, the guard didn't see Arsène or Kidd," he commented as they quickly passed through an alley to take a shortcut to the station.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" asked Ryuji, now forming the rear guard. "Means less noise for us. By the way, how the hell do we take these off?" He tugged at his red ascot while asking this, and Ren shrugged again.

"I dunno; how'd you do it last time?" asked he, tugging at his gloves.

Now it was Ryuji's time to shrug. A blue flame flashed over the two of them, and they were back in their normal outfits. Ryuji grimaced while rolling his eyes. "Well, that's convenient," he said.

As if on cue, Ren's phone began to ring. He picked it up immediately once he saw the call was from Futaba.

"Yeah?" he said.

"What're the two of you up to?" asked Futaba.

"Nothing important," answered Ren quickly, "just taking a stroll. Why d'you ask?"

"Your curfew is at 10:30," said the young woman in a somewhat menacing tone. "Get your pretty butt over here before I lock you out."

"Curfew?! What the hell—"

"Bring Ryuji too!" said Futaba quickly before hanging up.

"Yes, Mom," muttered Ren while putting his phone back in his pocket. He rolled his eyes and relayed the news to Ryuji, who shrugged with a chuckle and boarded the train with him.

* * *

"I wonder what Futaba wants with me now. And why the hell did she go all motherly on me, though? Ryuji's hair is starting to grow; I can see the black on his roots again, heh. No, I didn't get to see you on TV, but I was told you were going through what I went through, so yeah… So why is your Persona a pirate and mine is… whatever Arsène is supposed to be? Yeah, I should look up anything that might relate to any Arsène… Maybe these demons are actually based on something literary or historical; I think I once heard about a Captain Kidd in an European history class. Man, when I get home, I bet Sojiro is gonna ask me what the hell I've been up to. When he saw me in my disguise the other day, all he did was sigh and ignore me while I read my notes on Kaneshiro. Hmm? Oh, sorry; just thinking about our current project. Wait, who has an exam at that day?! But—but it's a Saturday. Man, fuck college, I swear. Then again, I'm in college too… Wait, what the hell is that? Ryuji, did you see that? Don't look at me like that! I saw something weird passing by us in the tracks! …I wonder what the hell that was; it looked like a hooded figure dragging chains…"

* * *

Ryuji eyed Ren once again. After his friend's remark that he had seen something on the train ride home, he grew worried that maybe the practice had left the black-haired man too exhausted to think straight. Then again, after realizing that he hadn't gone insane at Okumura Foods' HQ, the blond figured he could give his best friend the benefit of the doubt. They reached Yongen Jaya and headed to LeBlanc, where they found Futaba and Ann awaiting them at a table.

"What the hell is this?" asked Ryuji with a quizzical look.

"Intervention time!" said Futaba proudly while tapping her fingertips on a book. "I think I have an idea about what's going on with you two!"

"Wait, didn't the doctor say—?" started Ann, but Futaba angrily interrupted her.

"I don't care what she says; we're here to check up on them!" said the shorter woman, adjusting her glasses. She turned to Ren and Ryuji and said, "Now, sit your asses down!"

Ren sighed while eyeing the book Futaba was holding. He noticed something that said "Psience" and wondered why anyone would allow the publication of such a blatant spelling error. As the two men took their seats, Ann looked at them worriedly.

"You guys went through similar incidents lately, didn't you?" asked Futaba before the blonde could speak up. "That's why you both ended up with those weird getups?"

"Fuck if I know," said Ren with a shrug. Ryuji rolled his eyes with an agreeing expression. The black-haired man continued, "I'm sure that if people who decided to help others got weird outfits, we'd have plenty of costumed folk in Japan, let alone the world."

Ann looked at the leader and then at Ryuji, who was surprisingly silent but still agreeing with Ren. She asked, "Why is it that you want to do this project, Ren?"

"Money, duh," answered the leader with unrestrained sarcasm.

Futaba sighed. "This is gonna go nowhere if you ask dumb questions like that, Ann!"

Ryuji finally spoke up. "Ah, to hell with this! Why don't we show them, Ren-Ren?"

"Well, we are in a private place," noted the bespectacled man. It was true; it was well past closing time in LeBlanc, and the only group members (besides the owner) that had the keys to enter the locale anytime were Futaba and himself. He stood up and Ryuji soon followed; they led the girls to the leader's room upstairs. As soon as they were all reunited in the bedroom, Ren and Ryuji looked at each other before blue flames transformed their outfits into the odd costumes they were wearing earlier. Ann gasped and Futaba yelped in surprise.

"What in the living—" started Futaba.

"Why are you wearing that?!" said Ann, now somehow terrified.

"I'll explain," said Ren, smirking, "but not tonight; I need Makoto, Haru, and Yusuke here too so you all understand and can coordinate."

"What about the rest, though?" asked Ryuji from under his skull mask. "I'm sure they'll like to hear what we're gonna do, too."

"All in due time. We need the 'core team' to know first," answered Ren while adjusting his red gloves.

"Oh, so now we have a core team?!" said Futaba, indignant.

"Shaddup, shorty."

"You shut up, four-eyes!"

"Said the pot to the kettle…"

* * *

 **Been a while, huh? Don't worry, more will come soon.**

 **Also, I know you want the heist to happen, but it'll come when it comes, okay? I'm such a tease.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Ryuji, I need the explanation now. You and Ren are both driving me crazy with all the mystery!"

"Ren said we'd explain later in the week, Ann."

"Ryuji…"

Ryuji slumped his shoulders and sighed loudly before saying a prolonged "Fine." He was on the train, heading home with Ann when she voiced her worries. Thankfully, the train car was mostly empty, but Ryuji still decided to explain as best he could in a low voice. He mentioned what Kidd was like, both visually and character-wise. He told her about what Ren had said and about his Persona Arsène. Ann listened quietly, but her worry was becoming more evident on her face. When the train stopped at their station, Ann spoke up.

"Ryuji, I know Dr. Takemi said that Ren's drug test results were negative," she said, "but this is too outlandish to believe…"

Ryuji chuckled and nodded. "I think so too, but it's effin' real, Ann." Seeing her worried look, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder with a reassuring grin. "We'll be careful, Ann, I promise."

She hated that smile so much. It reminded her of the time he got his leg broken in several places; the attacker was doing it out of revenge for a past incident, but Ryuji still managed to defend himself. He'd smiled at her just like that before the event and after she visited him in the hospital afterwards. She pressed closer to Ryuji, but he had already let her go.

* * *

"…Is that a—"

"Not everything is a motherfuckin' JoJo reference, you weeb!" shouted Ren in mostly feigned annoyance.

Futaba pouted and narrowed her eyes. "It certainly seems like one, you unoriginal scrub," she said.

Ren groaned. Futaba had pressured him quite a lot to tell her what was going on with the outfits and Ryuji and whatnot, and he eventually succumbed. It didn't help that she had even made her usual puppy eyes for whenever she wanted something he couldn't say no to. He sat in his bed, across from Futaba, who had taken his work chair and was eyeing him with suppressed worry, and leaned forward with a deep breath. The short woman rolled over to be next to the raven-haired man. Her head tilted closer to his, and she let out a worried hum. Ren looked up at her, raising a curious eyebrow.

"What is it?" he asked in a softer tone. Futaba didn't answer, but her big, brown eyes looked away. Ren sighed and smiled gently at her, leaning so his head bumped hers lightly. Futaba looked back at him. His smile widened as he patted her head softly. She hated it so much when he did that; it was his superpower to give people fevers when he patted them in the head, she always thought. "Are you actually worried about me?" he asked almost teasingly.

"You dummy," said the girl, "of course I am! Who else is gonna give me a challenge in any fighting game we play?"

He gave a soft hiss-chuckle as a reply. She giggled along with him, enjoying the few little moments she could have.

"Seriously, though," continued Ren. "We'll be fine as long as we prepare and execute as necessary. Just 'cause I've got a Stand won't change the process, hm?"

The sunset-haired girl nodded slowly. After a few seconds, Futaba triumphantly added, "I knew it was a JoJo reference!"

"You're a moron, Futaba," said Ren, jabbing her in the rib with a quick finger. Futaba's body recoiled in response, and she let out a squeal. Ren's face warped into a mischievous grin, and he jabbed her again, earning the same response. He laughed while jabbing her again and again, saying in a higher pitch than usual, "You… are… a… tiny… dummy… Futaba…!" with each poke.

"Ah! Stop it, Ren! I mean it!" said Futaba, laughing with him. He relented, but she took the opportunity to retaliate by leaping onto him. She forgot all about the book she brought with her for that evening.

* * *

A few days later, Makoto prepared her room for "Party Time", finishing by moving her desk table to the center. She checked her phone to confirm who was coming to the meeting and at what time to expect their arrival. She went to her living room and sat on her couch, turning on the TV for background noise and grabbing a notebook to review from. After about half an hour, the brunette's phone rang; Ren had just texted her to announce his and Futaba's arrival. She opened the front door, and the pair greeted her with smiles and hellos, and hugs, in Futaba's case. As her visitors headed to the current meeting room and started to set up the plans and blueprints on the table, Makoto spoke up.

"Guys," she said, "I think we'll need to change the meeting place again."

"What?" said Futaba, alarmed. "What happened?"

"Sis is getting too suspicious," she explained. "Especially after her last meeting with Ren." She gave the leader a meaningful glare.

"What? What did I do?" asked the man, looking at the host.

"You know what you did," replied the brunette, crossing her arms.

Ren remained quiet, squinting while trying to remember. Futaba was also silent, looking between the other two in confusion. Makoto tapped her foot impatiently. The young man remained quiet for a few more seconds, then his eyes widened and he snapped his fingers.

"Oh!" he exclaimed before laughing. "Holy fuck, she's still on about that?"

"Yes, you idiot!" said Makoto, more annoyed now. "You convinced her that we were a thing! She wants to have dinner next week!"

"Wait, what?!" said both Ren and Futaba. The latter started laughing and added, "Wow, you fuckin' went 200 IQ on her!"

"That's… not how you use that expression," muttered Ren. His face was slowly losing color. "When exactly does she want the… thing?"

Makoto's face flattened; she honestly hoped that he'd find a way to circumvent all the awkwardness her sister would make them go through. Sighing, she said, "Three days before the operation, at least."

"What's three days before the group project?" said Ryuji's voice from the room's entrance. He limped slightly as he joined his teammates, which did not go unnoticed by Futaba.

"Did you see the doctor like I told you?" asked the sunset-haired girl.

"Yeah," said Ryuji with a grimace. "She said I shouldn't overexert myself by picking fights. Like falling down stairs turned me into effin' glass…"

"Well, do you still wanna go through?" asked Ren as he greeted Ryuji with their handshake.

"Hell yeah! After all, we've got—"

"Not until the rest are here too, Ryuji." Ren gave the dyed blond a meaningful look, which Ryuji immediately understood.

Makoto raised her eyebrow, but paid no mind to it. After all, she was more worried with what she'd have to deal with, with Sae. Ryuji greeted her and thanked her for having them by giving her a fruit basket, as he always did. She accepted gratefully, setting the basket on the table next to the target's blueprints. The four of them chatted about nothing for a while, while the other members slowly arrived. First came Yusuke, who was looking a little worse for wear. He mentioned to the group that he'd been working on a research paper and studying for a couple of exams, all due the following week. Shortly after, Ann arrived, looking exhausted after the day's shoot. She took her usual spot next to Ryuji as she told them about one of the outfits she had to wear for the shoot (a long red shirt, fingerless gloves, fishnet stockings, a black skirt, and a baseball hat) and how uncomfortable it was in the afternoon heat.

Ren stood up.

"All right," he said as he approached the table, "while we wait for Haru and Mishima to arrive, I'm gonna go over the layout of the building and the basic stuff we'll need."

"Aren't you going to tell us why you've selected this target in particular first?" said Yusuke, raising his hand. "Surely there must've been other banks owned by mob bosses that you could've selected."

"Excellent question, Yusuke," replied Ren, adjusting his glasses. "Well, you see, I've been digging around after our last assignment. I recognize that our society keeps us imprisoned—"

"Amamiya, what the devil are you on about?" asked Mishima, joining the meeting. Haru entered with him, and gave her greetings silently before taking her seat.

Ren resumed his speech. "As I was saying, we need to—"

"Ren, whatever you said about 'reforming society', we get it," said Makoto. "We're asking about the grubby CEO of this one bank."

Ren scratched his forehead and raised his brows, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Whatever rousing speech he had planned was thrown out the window by his team (the nerve!). He figured it'd be best to head straight to the point, though not because Makoto and Futaba gave him impatient looks. He sighed and pulled out a notebook from his backpack to attempt to ignore the source of his distraction.

"So, uh…" It took him a second or two to find the page he wanted. "Yeah, umm… We're going after this potato sack…" As visual aid, he pulled out a picture of the bank's CEO and rumored mafia boss. "His name is Junya Kaneshiro. His bank has been implied in some cases of money laundering, nothing proven, though…"

"That's nothing new, Ren," warned Ann, crossing her arms.

"You're usually so eloquent," noted Futaba. "And you have a notebook and blueprints, but you still can't talk. What's going through your head?"

In Ren's defense, it was a little difficult to ignore the girl with a blue guard uniform that was at the door while relaying the plans to the next heist. Justine was giving him a passive stare that exerted an intimidating amount of pressure on him. He somehow managed to excuse himself to the bathroom and walked towards her, wondering how the rest of the group hadn't noticed her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly once he was out of the room.

"Our master wishes you to know that you may drop by as often as you'd like," replied Justine in her soft, calm voice, "but he also insists on seeing you now."

"And how am I supposed to get to the Velvet Room from here?" asked Ren, confused.

On cue, a huge blue door materialized out of thin air next to them. Ren would've yelped in surprise if he hadn't expected something this ridiculous from the supernatural characters. The door opened, and Ren saw the insides of his cell in the Velvet Room. Justine motioned calmly, and Ren walked into it.

* * *

"Welcome back, Trickster," said Igor. "I take it you've heeded my advice."

"I was in the middle of something," said Ren, crossing his arms and feeling the familiar weight of the metal ball cuffed to his left ankle. "If you wanted to see me right now, I can presume what you'll tell me might have something to do with it?"

"You can," said the long-nosed man as he leaned forward. That stare still sent chills down Ren's spine. "Now that one of your companions has awoken to his own power, it might be a good time to tell you that perils await you."

"What kinda perils?" asked Ren.

"You're gonna have to use your Persona to handle these new dangers, Inmate!" yelled Caroline. Ren looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She closed her visible eye and smiled smugly. "What, did you think that your personal demons were the only ones around?"

"Demons?" Ren looked back at Igor, demanding an explanation.

"The world is not as it should be. It is filled with distortion, and ruin can no longer be avoided." Ren recognized what Igor said, having heard the same thing from him before. The Master of the Velvet Room joined his hands before continuing. "Humanity manifests its innermost desires collectively; these impure desires produce demons, otherwise known as Shadows."

Ren let out a deep breath. He looked down at Caroline and at Justine, who had entered the room through some other route, apparently, and asked, "Do these Shadows interact with people on the daily?"

"Not physically," answered Justine. "Only people who have awakened their Personas in any way can see them and directly combat them to help purify the world."

"You say this as if there were more than just Ryuji and me," commented the inmate.

"Those who oppose fate and desire change…" Igor brought the inmate's attention back to him, "from time to time, they were referred to as Tricksters. You are the Trickster. Now is the time to rise against the abyss of distortion."

Ren digested the information quietly. He suddenly remembered the massive figure he saw while on the subway with Ryuji the other day, and realized that it could be one of these Shadows that Igor and the guard girls were talking about. He didn't inquire about it, though; he chose to ask a bit more generically.

"If I can see these Shadows," he said, "how come I've never encountered one?"

"You must open your Third Eye, Trickster," replied the elderly figure. "Find the distortions that surround you and defy them. No practice will be necessary; just your own instincts."

"It means you're looking but not seeing, Inmate!" yelled Caroline. "You better get to seeing, or the Shadows will consume you and your world!"

"No practice, huh?" repeated Ren. He figured he'd do the exact opposite and actively search for these "distortions". Suddenly, he remembered the uneasy feeling he got whenever he worked incognito inside Kaneshiro's bank. He inquired, "Wait, if Shadows are the manifestations of humanity's warped desires, can they 'take over' a person, even if no physical interaction occurs?"

Igor's smile widened further. It seemed that Ren was finally asking the right questions. "Just like you've awakened to your rebellious spirit, Trickster," said he, "many others have been 'awakened' to their dark selves. You might just bring them salvation, if the circumstances are right."

Just as Ren was about to ask about the meaning of that last sentence, a bell rang, and he was forced out of the room as Igor and the twins said, "We'll see you again."

* * *

Ren blinked hard, and heard Makoto's voice from the room. He recognized what she was saying; she was reading his notes on Kaneshiro to the group. He walked back into the room, where Makoto was indeed reading aloud from his notebook. Everyone turned to him.

"You took your time," said Makoto, not happy with him. "I took the liberty of detailing our target. I'm assuming your intent isn't to bring down just the Mob, is it?"

"Did you get to the clients' list?" asked the leader, not apologizing for anything.

"Just read it, yeah," said Makoto.

"Those are some pretty big names in there, Amamiya," noted Mishima, scratching his midnight-blue hair. "We'll have to play this one really safe; who knows what they'll do to any of us if we're found out?"

Ren nodded in agreement before saying, "Which is why we're gonna take a whole day for this operation. …Yes, Yusuke?"

Yusuke, who was raising his hand, calmly said, "I believe I won't be of much use in this operation if it's going to last all day."

"Why's that?" asked Ryuji.

"I have two exams and a presentation that day," replied the indigo-haired man sadly.

"But that's on a Saturday!" exclaimed Futaba.

"It be like that with college, Futaba," said Ren. He turned to Yusuke and said reassuringly, "Don't worry; we won't _all_ be working at once, all day long. We'll divide the work into at least three phases. I'll be handling the first one by myself, since my shift is early-morning." He gestured the rest of the team to join him at the table, and everyone got closer.

He pointed at the blueprints, at a place near the entrance, before starting to explain the battle plan.

"This place is where mostly anyone is, so it's the safest place to be around for after I've set up indoors. There're always five guards in this area at any given time; fortunately, I'm not one of them. Besides the guards, there're the receptionists and tellers at the front. They're pretty nice, but at least three of them are directly under Kaneshiro. Their names are… Matsumoto, Iori, and, uh… Sakuya. Try not to do anything overt near them; they're the ones with the boss on speed-dial. Also, the guards here aren't friendly at all, so don't try anything funny near them. When you want in, make them understand you mean business. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering how to get further in.

"Firstly, Futaba's been working on intercepting the cameras and preparing to make them all loop to specific points in time that will lower suspicions long enough for each of us to do our jobs." He turned to the short woman and added, "Of course, that means you'll have to wake up as early as I will."

Futaba rolled her eyes and said, "As per usual, then."

Ren nodded at her before continuing. "Now, I'm usually posted in this hall here." He pointed at a hallway in the first basement; the layout suggested that Ren's post meant guarding office spaces. "This one here is a meeting room; Kaneshiro doesn't usually meet with anyone besides his big buddies in there."

Makoto raised her hand and asked, "What if one of us were to distract him by pretending to have interest in being one of those 'big buddies'?"

Ren looked at the brunette, mulling her words for a moment.

"That's… actually fuckin' great," commented the raven-haired man with a nod. "We'll get to that in a bit, though, so hold that thought and maybe develop it some more."

"Right," said she, feeling proud. She immediately pulled out a notepad from the drawer under the table and started to write her idea on it.

Meanwhile, Ren continued the explanation.

"So I said I'm usually posted here, right? Well, I work over here Saturdays." He pointed at another spot, seemingly on the third basement, which seemed to be the entrance to a huge part in the building. "This is the entrance to the primary vault. Nobody. _NOBODY_. Is. Ever. Allowed. In. Nobody. Not ever. Only seven people have key cards and the password to enter, and none of those are me. Only Kaneshiro and his top bitches can go in. Stop laughing, Mishima; these guys are the only ones who touch any form of money, laundered or not. The guards posted there at the entrance are the ones Kaneshiro trusts the most."

"Wait, so that means Kaneshiro trusts you a lot?" asked Haru.

"What did you do, suck his dick?" suggested Mishima, still chuckling at Ren's "top bitches" comment.

"No, but a few people suggested I did, though," said Ren in a low growl. Mishima then remembered that Futaba had told him that Ren was cross-dressing in this job, and his brow rose. He turned to Makoto and said, "Do note that Kaneshiro is a piece of shit. If he wants a woman, he'll try his best to get her, regardless of legitimacy. Luckily, he didn't seem to like me that much."

"He trusts you, though," repeated Haru.

"Yeah, which is why I'm gonna have to handle the first part myself." Ren took out a photo of another, older-looking guard. "This man, Goichi Itsuna, is the one who shares my shift. I can distract him long enough to set up the charges that will open the primary vault. Ryuji, write this down: we're gonna need about two to five kilos of C4, a remote detonator, some duct tape, and maybe—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Ryuji, barely catching up with the list, "how the eff am I supposed to get this stuff? I can't order these in such a short notice!"

"Talk to Iwai; he said he'd be our resource guy for this one, too. Y'know what," said Ren before tearing out a page from his notebook. "Here's the list; get it to him and tell him we'll need it four days from now."

"A'ight," said Ryuji, taking the page and putting it away in his backpack, making sure it was safe. "How're you gonna set it up, though?"

Ren returned to his explanation. "I'm going to set it up in the pattern I drew here—" he showed them another page from his notebook "—and prepare the remote for the second phase. That's where the rest of you will come in. Makoto, your thoughts on the distraction?"

Makoto nodded and looked at her notepad, summarizing what she wrote on it. "We'll have one of us play the role of a rich, foreign entrepreneur who wants to open a company account in that bank. Whoever it is, will need at least one bodyguard to help further the part. I'm assuming Kaneshiro won't want the bodyguard in the room with the lead role here, so the 'bodyguard' will join you in penetrating the defenses and opening the vault. I'd like to play the bodyguard, if you don't mind. I'm guessing these guys are at least trained in some way."

"I guess so too," agreed Ren. "Who do you think will play the entrepreneur?"

"I was gonna recommend Haru, since she knows her way in this kind of business," answered Makoto.

"Wait, but Haru is the daughter of the CEO of Okumura Foods," noted Mishima. "Her face should be recognizable to a banker, no matter how deep in the dirt his nose is."

"I agree, Mishima," said Haru pensively. "I don't think I'm going to fool Kaneshiro for a moment. B-but I can help whoever plays the part! I'll teach them how to handle this sort of thing so they can do a convincing enough job."

"Great thinking, Haru," praised Ren.

"Then I'll do it," piped up Ann.

Ryuji was the first to react. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm part American, so I'm sure he'll buy that I'm foreign," said the blonde. "If Haru teaches me well, I'm sure I can nail this part, easy-peasy!"

Ren looked at Ryuji for a moment, and turned to Ann. "Ann, this guy is… not good to women. All female employees have had to do some unpleasant 'business' or other with him just to land their jobs. Are you sure you can handle him if he tries to… well…" he asked in a warning tone.

"C'mon, I'm not some pushover!" said Ann, indignant. "I haven't been training with Makoto and Ryuji just to still be unable to do anything!"

Ren sighed and said "Okay."

Ryuji looked at Ann. Even if she seemed so confident, he was still worried about her. Ren, however, had moved on to the infiltration plan and was mentioning what they were going to do. Ryuji wasn't listening, though. He was remembering the last time Ann had told him she wasn't a pushover…

* * *

It was a few years ago, when Ryuji, Ann, and her best friend Shiho were still in high school. Ren had just made friends with Ryuji, but hadn't spent too much time with the others, given he was a new transfer student in Shujin High.

Ryuji had uncovered the P.E. teacher's plan to dismantle the track team and ruin the school's volleyball team. Having told Ann and Shiho, they had a plan to report the sleazy Kamoshida to the school's principal and the authorities. Ann had volunteered to be the one to coerce a confession out of the culprit, even though Ryuji had warned her that Kamoshida might become aggressive.

"You don't trust me, Ryuji?" Ann had asked in an indignant tone. "You think I'm some pushover that can't do anything?"

"I never said that!" said the dyed blond. "I'm just telling you to be careful!"

When the eventful day came, Ryuji and Shiho were spending their time at the principal's office, trying to convince the round man that the volleyball star he had hired to teach his students was, instead, an abusive megalomaniac that wanted to ruin the school's youths' lives. The missing Ann was itching at the back of Ryuji's mind, but he endured it as he did his part. When the headmaster had asked about the evidence, was where Ryuji's fear took over him. Ann was supposed to be there a while ago, but she was still taking her time. His eyes widened and he rushed out of the office, telling Shiho to call the police…

Ren had joined him on his way to Kamoshida's office, having seen him run like a bolt of lightning through the school. When the pair reached the P.E. teacher's office, they were almost too late. The two found the towering brute over an unconscious but still-clothed Ann, and Ryuji was first to act; letting out a loud battle roar, he tackled Kamoshida and did his best to beat him to a pulp while Ren dragged Ann out of the classroom. After about two minutes, the security guards arrived to separate Ryuji and Kamoshida before arresting the latter for, well, obvious reasons…

* * *

Ren interrupted his planning with the team when he heard a car parking outside of Makoto's house. He heard the keys' jingle before the unmistakable clacking of Sae Niijima's heels. His eyes widened at the same time as Makoto's did. She immediately grabbed Ren's hand and rushed him out of the room with a hurried command for the rest of the team to hide in her room. With surprising speed, Makoto dragged Ren to her living room and, with astounding strength, threw him onto the couch before jumping onto him. She quickly unbuttoned her shirt as he did his, and she slammed her lips into his, faking a moan loudly while Sae entered the house.

"What in the—" said the older Niijima sister as she greeted the scene. "MAKOTO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"S-sis!" said Makoto with fake surprise, leaping off of Ren. She "attempted" to straighten herself up and failed hilariously, landing on Ren again. "We weren't—we didn't think you'd arrive so early!"

"YOU GET OFF OF HER RIGHT NOW," yelled Sae at Ren. Ren rolled his eyes, holding back his laughter.

"She's on me, though," he commented in a snarky tone. However, he did his best to get out from underneath the brunette, but her thighs locked him in place. He looked up at the younger sister. "Mako, mind letting me out, please?" he asked in a fake yet sickeningly sweet voice.

"No, _dear_ ," replied the brunette, sending a chill down Ren's spine with her fake smile. "We're fine just as we are. Maybe Sis will knock first next time?" She leaned down and continued her "business" with Ren, this time adding her tongue to further disgust her sister.

"MAKOTO, YOU'RE NOT GONNA—Agh, screw this," said the silver-haired sister in a defeated tone. She turned around and said, "I'm spending the night in a hotel. Have fun safely, or whatever." Sae slammed the door behind her.

Makoto didn't stop kissing Ren until she clearly heard Sae's car rushing away. She leapt off of the raven-haired man and wiped her lips.

"Not bad," said Ren, slowly straightening up and readjusting his glasses. "Though next time, don't be so rough, please."

"You seemed to like it rough," commented Makoto, glancing quickly to Ren's pants. Ren noticed the tent and quickly covered himself with a pillow. She chuckled and added, "That's the last time we use this place, though."

"Agreed," commented Ren, shamefully buttoning his shirt. "You think she'll still wanna do the dinner thing after this?"

"I hope not," answered Makoto. She stood up and said, "I'll tell the guys to leave. Anything else, we can just ask you, right?"

"Sure; at least I gave you all an overview of the getaway, too." Ren stood up, still painfully hard, and bounced on his tiptoes to send the blood elsewhere.

Makoto nodded, and walked calmly to her room. After a few seconds, the troupe walked down the stairs and bid their goodbyes. Futaba walked over to Ren as he, too, said his farewells to Makoto. Once the duo was on its way to Yongen-Jaya, Futaba piped up.

"I heard everything," said the sunset-haired woman with a sinister smirk. "You like it rough, huh?"

"Of all the things you could've commented on, you chose that?" complained Ren. Futaba giggled as they walked out of the train station.

"Well, sorry," she teased. They walked to LeBlanc, where Sojiro greeted them with plates full of rice and curry. As they ate, she continued, "But, Ren, you left Ryuji to talk about all the JoJo stuff. He sucks at explaining shit, you know. I'm glad you told me first."

"I told you it's not a JoJo reference!" said the young man, taking a bigger bite than usual to stuff his mouth. As he chewed, he mused to himself. _'Although, maybe I can use this week to see if my… Stand… has any special techniques I can use here…'_ he thought, looking at Futaba grumble something about parts one and two of JoJo not being as good as the due to their lack of Stands. He rolled his eyes in disagreement and kept stuffing himself.

* * *

 **I don't even remember why I didn't upload this chapter sooner, but hey, better late than never :v**

 **hope you enjoy!**


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